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Open source authenticator implementation for LANs

I am planning to implement 802.1x authentication for wired LAN for a switching hub designed by my company. HostAP is said to support this. Can you suggest an open source/GPL implementation of authenticator for both wired and wireless LANs? And what are the points/issues I should consider when selecting an authenticator software package?

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HostAP is open source code intended to turn a Linux device into an access point. A similar open source project that also includes 802.1X authenticator software is the Radionet Open Source Environment (ROSE).

Other open source projects focused on delivering 802.1X supplicant software include:

Open1x is said to include 802.1X authenticator source code, although that project's focus is more on the supplicant.

If you'd prefer to use a commercial SDK, some examples include Meetinghouse's AEGIS 802.1X Authentication Toolkit and Wind River's Wind Net 802.1X.

When choosing an 802.1X authenticator platform, consider whether the platform meets your target hardware/OS environment, which version(s) of 802.1X are supported, whether it has been tested with many 802.1X supplicants and authentication servers, support for multiple authentication protocols (e.g., PAP, CHAP, EAP), dependencies or limitations associated with specific EAP types, support for dynamic rekeying, support for DIAMETER or TACACS+ or RADIUS accounting, and what kind of debugging and testing utilities it offers. The usual caveats about technical support for open source vs. commercial software also apply to 802.1X authenticator platforms.

This was first published in August 2004

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